A Pawn to be Played
by The Exile 09
Summary: When a bounty hunter is baited by his old enemy into capturing a senator's daugher, will he be able to complete the job and go home? Or are things more complicated than that?


_Author's Note:_

_Hey everyone... I'm actually BACK on POSTING stuff... Amazing, eh?  
This story is set between the times of Episode I and III... And no, this has NOTHING to do with any of the main characters in the movies or the books. It's just set in the Star Wars universe.  
Things may seem a bit confusing at first as well, but just be patient... Things will be revealed in due time.  
Now I'm not the greatest expert on Star Wars.. So if you see ANYTHING wrong please don't hesitate to correct me.I would greatly appriciate it! Also, any constructive critism would be helpful as well. I'm totally open to it. Thank you!_

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"_Hello, Mahe' Loh. I received your name from a friend of mine, and I am inclined to ask for your…ah… noble services. I am called Halda Myn." _There was a pause over the crackling on the transmission, then the voice went on, _"I have a certain job I would like you to do. I have heard of your promising attributes, and would like to give it a try. Money is not a dilemma; I shall give you that as a reminder. __If you are interested meet me at the Glow Spider tonight at 9 standard hours. If not…" _The voice trailed off and the transmission ended abruptly.

"There was a pause over the crackling on the transmission, then the voice went on, The voice trailed off and the transmission ended abruptly. 

The man known as Mahe' paused and bent over his transmitter, listening to the message again attentively. The voice seemed familiar… But that was over the transmitter: a person's voice sounded much different in real life. Sometimes the static got in the way, blocking the person's true voice.  
He shook his head and played the message again. Something seemed wrong. Who would know that he was at Coruscant? He was rarely here to do business, and only came when he had to, or was desperate for a job. This Halda Myn had mentioned that one of his 'friends' had recommended him to Myn…

Mahe' Loh, at the age of twenty-four, was a bounty hunter; and a good one at that. He wasn't considered an all-around specialist, but he got the job done, and that was all that mattered to his employers. He was quite well-known in certain places: but he hardly ever _looked_ for jobs, the jobs came to him.  
Most of the time.

Like now, for instance. Mahe' would get transmissions like this all the time for a new mission: a new job to do. But why did he find this one so suspicious? Was it the voice that sounded so familiar? The fact that this Halda Myn had known he was at Coruscant? He shook his head and sighed, Myn had said money was not a setback… He might as well do it; Money was something he always needed.

At six foot two, with deep set, green eyes and dirty brown hair that hung well over his eyes, Mahe' looked very threatening if cast in the right setting; as in a dark secluded alley with a blaster in hand. He rarely ever smiled or laughed. If he did, it would usually be fake, or a bitter laugh and a smirk. He had hardly any friends, but he didn't care. Why should he? He didn't _need_ friends. They were nuisances and disturbances.

Mahe' looked around his dark, cramped apartment and brushed aside some cobwebs in annoyance. He was hardly ever here; He didn't even know why even he bothered keeping this junk pit of an apartment anyway… It was old, dingy, and placed directly in the lower levels of Coruscant.  
But it did have its good points; it was someplace to stay, he could get to it fairly easy, and it was usually close to where his jobs where located. No one else in the apartment building cared if he dragged a man in with his blaster to his head. It was convinient, but nonetheless an annoyance.  
He decided as soon as he was done here he would sell it. Who needed to go back to Coruscant anyway? Too many memories were here to haunt him; there were better jobs on different planets.

Mahe' glanced at the clock and noted the time; at least a good hour before he was expected. Excellent, he could take his time getting there. He knew exactly where the Glow Spider was. He had been there many a time, back when he was younger and more naïve. Maybe that was why the transmission bothered him: He used to go to that accursed place all the time; and now this Halda Myn wanted to meet him there as well. He brushed his hair from hisface andsighed, dismissing his worries, and headed down the dirty, crowded streets to the bar.

* * *

Mahe' arrived fifteen minutes earlier than expected; He had taken the scenic rout, wandering down various streets, alleyways and roads until he finally found himself here. He knew where he was going, of course.It was a way to kill time, think about what he wasgetting into. He usually did this before he met up with another one of his employers.  
He approached the entrance of the Glow Spider cautiously, the crowds pushing him this way and that. He didn't see anyone who might be Halda Myn: he assumed he was supposed to wait the bar's entrance. … He leaned against the wall casually and waited. 

There was a number of different humans and aliens here… too many races in one crowd to name all of them at once. Some were drunk, others sober. None of them were well-to-do or 'respectable'. But that was common; why would anyone highly regarded want to go here anyway? He supposed that some might; you never know. Some of the people in this bar could be members of that so-called 'Republic', for he knew. A lot of things can change in 3 years.

He slumped further against the wall, annoyed that he had come this early. He wasn't a patient man unless it was required of him, and even fifteen minutes were starting to seem like an eternity. Why _had _he even decided to come back to Coruscant? What demon had possessed him to make him think that he would actually _enjoy_ himself here? Already someone had lined him up with yet another tiring job, not to mention long-forgotten recollections jumping out at him unexpectantly.

As if just appearing right beside him, a man with silver-colored hair stepped out of the crowd and leaned against the wall beside him, making an unspoken greeting obvious. The man was only a bit shorter than himself, with a cold expression on his face, and dark brown eyes that held a threat  
Was _this_ Halda Myn? It must be; why else would he approach him in this manner?

After a few moments of discomfited silence, the man finally spoke up, "Are you Mahe' Loh?" He asked in a cool, almost uncaring voice.

"I am." He replied, a bit stiffly, "And you? Are you Halda Myn?"

"No." The man said, with the same cold tone, "But I am his assistant: He told me to wait outside for you. Follow me." He turned and went into the bar.

Mahe followed warily, glancing about him as he did so. This place brought back memories: unwanted memories. He shovedthem in the back of his mind and focused on the present.

"Here; Halda is over at the bar right now, getting drinks." The man stopped and motioned to a secluded booth in the corner, "But sit until he returns, please." This was more of a command, then a request. Mahe complied, sliding into the booth seat and waiting, growing more uneasy all the time. Something about this just wasn't right.

The silver-hairedman stood by the table, waiting until a Nikto came into view, drinks sloshing about in his hand.

Mahe clenched his fists and felt his jaw tighten. He knew this Nikto.

"Ah, my old _friend_, Mahe." The humaniod hissed, the word 'friend' sounding more like an insult. The Nikto slid into the seat across from Mahe' and the man slipped into it after him, so that they were sitting side-by-side.

The Nikto plopped the drinks on the table, and some of the liquid sloshed out.

Mahe glared fiercely at the him, rage filling his mind. "Hujla… what do you want? I thought you were through with me. Didn't you ruin my life enough?" He spat out angrily.

"Ah, but you are wrong there, Mahe. _You_ were the one to ruin your own life, not I. I merely…" He paused and smiled slyly, "Helped."

Mahe shook his head in fury, "Call it what you like, scum, but I am through with you and youraccursedcompany." He made a move to get up,

"Ah, but Mahe', we have not talked about your job yet." Hujla smiled furtively and leaned in, "A high-paying job."

Mahe' turned to him, his eyes flashing with resentment, "What makes you even _think_ that I would want to work with you?." He hissed, standing up.

Hujla nodded to the silver-haired man beside him. The man calmly pulled out a blaster.

Mahe' froze, then sat back down stiffly, glaring with contempt at the horned alien, "Must you always negotiate this way, you pig?"

"Now, now, Loh, stop throwing insults at me and _listen_." Hujla snapped, "Now, would you rather get killed by a blaster or pay attention to what I have to say?"

For a moment Mahe' actually thought a blaster sounded better than whatever Hujla had to say, but figuredkeeping himself alivewas better than getting shot over an overconfident humaniod, "..._FINE,_ have it your way, Hujla." Mahe' glared at him and slumped in his seat.

"Good." Hujla smiled surreptitiously and nodded to the man, who put away the blaster. "Ah, but before I tell you of your job, I must insist you call me Halda Myn. I changed my name, you see. I tire of Hujla." Halda said with a wave of his hand and taking a long slurp of his drink.

"Or someone was on to you and you had to change it for safety's sake." Mahe' smirked.

"And that as well…" Halda looked a bit embarrassed, but quickly recovered, "But before we start our discussion, I would like to introduce you to my apprentice of sorts: Orion." He jerked his head over to the man sitting beside him. Orion nodded slightly.

Mahe' scoffed, "Apprentice? What are you now, a wanna-be Jedi?"

"Not exactly. Orion is a very skilled assassin and hijacker for his age. He's only 19, you know. Someday he might take over the company. I have him do _all _my jobs for me. Except one, which I am offering to you."

"Why to me, fool? You want to make my life more miserable?" Mahe said irritably, "It's not enough that you burn my house to ashes and kill my family, now you want to _hire_ me again?"

"But of course: You were the best we had." Halda said, his mouth twitching slightly, "When you quit, I wasn't sure who to hire. But then Orion came along." Halda looked pointedly at Orion, then back at Mahe'. "Don't get me wrong; he's been very good these pastthree years; but we all know that you're better."

Mahe' saw Orion shoot a bitter look at him. Halda chose to ignore it, and continued,

"There is a certain girl; a daughter of a high-ranking official in Coruscant. Her father has been into our business for some time. Mostly buying large quantities of Zone… He's a very stressed man, you see. He gave us a lot of money… too much money for him to just drop out the way he did and not pay us for the last order of three boxes of the drug. We're sending you to capture her daughter as a… punishment, or a ransom, if you must know."

"That doesn't sound particularly hard; why can't Orion do it? Why drag _me _into all this?"

"Oh, but Mahe, it IS hard. There is extremely tight security around the house, and I've heard his daughter is…ah… how do I say this? A handful. She's witty, stubborn, and puts up a hard fight. Her father _dotes_ upon her, nevertheless, though I can't figure out for the life of me why. She is the key to her father paying us the money that he owes us, and… maybe a bit more," He smiled coyly and took another long sip of his drink.

"Why would I want to help _you_?" Mahe sneered, "What if I _want_ you and your… apprentice to get caught and rot in prison the rest of your life? You deserve to die."

"Ah, and so do you." Halda laughed, "You have killed more men then you can count; and you know it as well as I do. If we were caught, you would go down right with us. We have your records: You were foolish not to change your name." He scorned.

"Maybe I thought that hiding from you was better than changing my name." Mahe' shot back, eyes blazing.

"Or, you didn't want to change your name at all: for the sake of your _precious _family." Halda said calmly, but heartlessly.

Mahe' glared at Halda, but didn't say anything. What hesaid was true.

Halda chuckled, knowing he had hit the nail on the head, "So, my dear Mahe', what do you say?"

"I don't think I have much choice." Mahe' scowled, and crossed his arms irritably

"Now now, don't get so cross. But you are right, you really don't have a choice." Halda paused, then leaned in on the table, getting right down to business; just as he used to. "Now, I have the layout of the girl's house; she lives by herself in an apartment building in a very nice, high-grade part of Coruscant. So you _know_ there will be extremely high security there. You will look uncommonly suspicious, so be careful." He pulled out a rough map drawn of the building, it was quite detailed, but one could tell it was sketched hastily,

"Now she lives in a fancy apartment, up on thefifthlevel. You'll have to somehow get in there without anyone noticing, go up to her room, and get her out. I'll leave the details to you." He smirked. "Now once you have her, you may do with her as you wish, just do NOT kill her. She is our bargaining tool, and we CANNOT lose her. Do you—"

"I understand, I understand." Mahe' said interrupted edgily, "Now continue."

"Why Mahe'… This reminds me of the old days." Halda simpered, "But anyway, as I was saying, don't damage the 'goods' too much; I would like to have some… fun with her (as I'm sure you do) before the deal is made. I've heard she is an attractive thing…"

Mahe' rolled his eyes in disgust at Halda's remarks but ignored them. Halda used to talk like this constantly, only in cruder terms. Obviously this hadn't changed in the pastthree years.

"But anyway, you need to give her to me infive days time. I know it will take some time to plan, and you may need to observe where she lives and such." Halda continued, ignoring Mahe'. "But if you do not return her to me…. Terrible things will happen, _dear_ Mahe'." His voice became soft, sounding more threatening.

"Oh don't worry, _dear_ Hujla." He used Halda's real name purposefully, "I've already learned that. He grabbed the rough map of the apartment building.

"Our meeting place is still the same, Mahe, only more hidden. But you need not look for us; just leave her at the usual spot, and we shall find her."

"I know." Mahe' got up and gave the two one last glare.

"Thanks for doing business, Loh." Halda smirked and took a long, loud slurp of his drink.

Mahe' just glared at them again and trudged off, hearing Halda's loud laughter behind him.


End file.
